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Postcards from Mini-Camp

Thoughts, observations and notes from the first mini-camp of the Herman Edwards Era with the Chiefs:

SPECIAL TEAMS
Each and every one of the five practices started with a special teams drill, and there were more segments for the kicking game in each practice.

That¬ís a significant difference from a year ago, when the Chiefs barely touched on any special teams work in their mini-camps. That¬ís not to say that Dick Vermeil ignored the kicking game. Once training camp started, there probably wasn¬ít a team in the league that spent more practice time on special teams, right through the regular season. Unfortunately, all that time did not pay off in production last season.

Edwards established immediately with his youngsters, and will do so again with his veterans later this week with a full-squad camp, that the kicking game is going to be a very important part of this team¬ís preparation.

¬ďWe¬íll start every practice with the kicking game,¬Ē said Edwards. ¬ďWe are going to work on it.¬Ē

That work started this past weekend.

TAMBA, TAMBA, TAMBA
Watching Tamba Hali go through the drills and teamwork over five days and several things standout. One: he¬ís not physically imposing when he¬ís out there with other defensive linemen or butting up against the offensive line. Two: he¬ís one heckuva athlete, with an on-off switch that¬ís mostly on.

While he may not be as tall or as heavy as some of the players blocking him, Hali is a handful to control because of his ability to get low and use leverage. Coaches are always looking for knee benders; players who can go full speed while bending their knees. It¬ís not as easy as it sounds. Go out in the driveway and run as fast as you can from one end to the other. Now do the same with your knees bent and your butt down. Great athletes can do this and not slow down.

That¬ís Hali. He exhibited excellent body control and he has a way of getting involved in plays. During Sunday¬ís workout, he also knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

QUARTERBACKS
Brodie Croyle and Casey Printers were both impressive, but in different ways, during the five practices.

Croyle looked totally unfazed by being in an NFL camp. He looked comfortable handling the scaled down offense and it¬ís easy to tell he¬ís had some schooling on playing the position. His footwork is very good and his decision-making is quick and decisive. Plus on several throws, he really displayed his arm strength.

Printers may be the most impressive physical specimens at quarterback that the Chiefs have had in the last 25 years at least, maybe longer. In the CFL, a quarterback lives with his running ability as much as his throwing and Printers on several occasions escaped the pocket and turned on the jets. In the pocket, his footwork is not as defined as Croyle¬ís as he has a lot of wasted pitter-patter, but that will come with more work. He also displayed his arm strength several times.

There were very few veterans on the defensive side of the ball, there was no live pass rush and no crowd screaming in their ears, so making judgments on Croyle and Printers is folly right now. But there have been young quarterbacks who have come into mini-camp and looked lost. That¬ís not the case with these two guys.

FREE AGENT RECEIVERS
Once the draft was over, the Chiefs loaded up with a half-dozen rookie free agent wide receivers. Most share a handful of traits: under-producers in college, smart and fast.

Maybe the best of the lot is Chris Hannon out of Tennessee. He¬ís 6-3, 205 and was clocked in the 40-yard dash under 4.5 seconds. He was an underachiever for the Volunteers, playing in 46 career games and catching 69 passes. However, a dozen of those catches went for touchdowns.

Also part of that group is Travis LaTendresse out of Utah. He finished his college career by being the MVP of the Emerald Bowl against Georgia Tech, catching 16 passes in that game for 214 yards and four touchdowns.

MISC¬Ö
The only apparent injury of the weekend was to LB Rich Scanlon¬ís back. He tweaked it during the Friday AM session and did not return for the next four practices ¬Ö there were about a dozen players in for tryouts and at least two showed something in the workouts: RB Derrick Ross and DT Steve Williams. Ross is out of Tarleton State in Texas and was considered by some teams an early-second day draft choice. Williams played at NW Missouri State but missed the end of last season after suffering a sports hernia. He began his college career at Indiana. Both may get the chance to sign on with the Chiefs and take part in this weekend¬ís camp.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Re: Postcards from Mini-Camp

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First off id like to say hello to everyone. 8-) Now to my favorite subject KC CHIEFS!!!!!!!! All I can say is NEW blood! Im exited this year about the defence. Ive never been much of an offence minded person. BUT I DO LIKE TO SEE A GOOD GET AFTER YOUR A** DEFENSE! Tomba will be a force to deal with.It really only takes a couple of key players that have to be double teamed to really free up the others.His side steps and quick hand moves will be so great to watch.And Brody kinda looks like a Trent Green clone. And im totally cool with that. All in all the upgrades are fine with me. Herm is the kind of coach i had in high school. Either produce or shuffle on your merry way! I couldnt care less about ty law we need to get our young players some time and he wouldnt do anything but put off for anouther year the development of our rookies. Oh he can help our defense but only if we have a decent pass rush EVERY play.Since most of his interceptions are within 20 yards of the line of scrimage. But all in all im cool with the rookies and the direction our beloved chiefs are heading.

Re: Postcards from Mini-Camp

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Welcome Krazo. Glad to have ya on board.

I look forward to what Herm can do with this team. The one thing I really like about him is the fact he is not afraid to go with some youth. He takes risks when they are needed personel wise. I only hope he can keep our offense in scoring mode rather than slow it down too much like so many are worried about.

THAT quarterback is NOT a Pro Bowl quarterback. Never was and never will be.

Re: Postcards from Mini-Camp

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KC-Krazo wrote:
First off id like to say hello to everyone. 8-) Now to my favorite subject KC CHIEFS!!!!!!!! All I can say is NEW blood! Im exited this year about the defence. Ive never been much of an offence minded person. BUT I DO LIKE TO SEE A GOOD GET AFTER YOUR A** DEFENSE! Tomba will be a force to deal with.It really only takes a couple of key players that have to be double teamed to really free up the others.His side steps and quick hand moves will be so great to watch.And Brody kinda looks like a Trent Green clone. And im totally cool with that. All in all the upgrades are fine with me. Herm is the kind of coach i had in high school. Either produce or shuffle on your merry way! I couldnt care less about ty law we need to get our young players some time and he wouldnt do anything but put off for anouther year the development of our rookies. Oh he can help our defense but only if we have a decent pass rush EVERY play.Since most of his interceptions are within 20 yards of the line of scrimage. But all in all im cool with the rookies and the direction our beloved chiefs are heading.

Welcome to the Crowd! I too am pumped about the coming season, and eager to see the defense get back to their glory days. Like Guru; I just hope it doesn't come at too much of an offensive slow down.

Re: Postcards from Mini-Camp

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I like the potential that Tamba Hali has.That being said...I am THRILLED with the prospect of having a powerful hitter in the defensive backfield.Bernard Pollard delivers some outstanding hits on the highlight reel at yahoo sports.He looks like a big league bone crusher the likes of David Fulcher; Joey Browner; Steve Atwater or maybe even Ronnie Lott.
I realize that it is a "high"light reel and doesn't show any errors being made. But, if you haven't seen this video clip, then, as a Chiefs fan,you need to.
Here is the page for those who haven't seen this yet.

clip.http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/kan/

It also includes video clips of each of the Chiefs draft picks.Working with Herm could really work out well for this young Safety.
Before I watched this clip, I was a little upset with the fact that K.C. didn't draft Maurice Stovall(WR out of Notre Dame).

Re: Postcards from Mini-Camp

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chief31 wrote:
I like the potential that Tamba Hali has.That being said...I am THRILLED with the prospect of having a powerful hitter in the defensive backfield.Bernard Pollard delivers some outstanding hits on the highlight reel at yahoo sports.He looks like a big league bone crusher the likes of David Fulcher; Joey Browner; Steve Atwater or maybe even Ronnie Lott.
I realize that it is a "high"light reel and doesn't show any errors being made. But, if you haven't seen this video clip, then, as a Chiefs fan,you need to.
Here is the page for those who haven't seen this yet.

clip.http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/kan/

It also includes video clips of each of the Chiefs draft picks.Working with Herm could really work out well for this young Safety.
Before I watched this clip, I was a little upset with the fact that K.C. didn't draft Maurice Stovall(WR out of Notre Dame).